the Balkans in October 1944 and Operation Grapeshot, the advance of Allied forces in Northern Italy in April 1945. The squadron moved to Waller Field, Trinidad and became part of Air Transport Command in June 1945. It used its Liberators as transports, flying personnel from Trinidad to Florida. The unit was inactivated in Trinidad during July 1945. The squadron was redesignated as very heavy bomber squadron in 1945, but remained inactive. European airlift In February 1953, Tactical Air Command activated the 465th Troop Carrier Group at Donaldson Air Force Base, South Carolina to replace the 433d Troop Carrier Group, a reserve unit that had been mobilized for the Korean War. The squadron was redesignated the 781st Troop Carrier Squadron and assumed the personnel, mission and aircraft of the 310th Troop Carrier Squadron, which was simultaneously inactivated. At the time it was replaced by the 465th, the 443d Group was in the process of converting to the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar from the Curtiss C-46 Commando it was flying when mobilized. The squadron's intended base at Évreux-Fauville Air Base, France was still under construction, so in December, the 465th Group moved to Toul-Rosières Air Base, France. In November the squadron's ground echelon sailed on the , while the air echelon departed Donaldson with their C-119s at the beginning of December. Although construction at Toul had progressed, it could only accommodate a single flying squadron, and the 781st located at Wiesbaden Air Base, Germany. By April 1954, construction at Toul was advanced enough that the squadron's parent 465th Troop Carrier Wing could join it and the 781st relocated to Toul on 1 May. The squadron participated in airlift operations, tests and exercises in Europe. Although the squadron mission was troop carrier, there were few American airborne troops in Europe, and it focused on theater airlift flights, particularly supporting fighter units deploying to Wheelus Air Base for training at the ranges there. In December 1956, the 465th Group became non-operational, in preparation for the 465th Wing reorganization under the dual deputy model. Until March 1957, when the new organization became effective, the squadron was attached to wing headquarters. The 465th Group was inactivated in March and the 781st was reassigned directly to the 465th Wing. Four months later, the 465th Wing inactivated and transferred its operational squadrons to the 317th Troop Carrier Wing, which had moved to Évreux-Fauville Air Base from its former